News release ohio Basketball Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2014

COLUMBUS – The Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame never runs out of outstanding candidates to join its ranks. The recently-elected 2014 class offers a good example.

Next May the HOF will be enhanced by the addition of 15 individuals who have made outstanding

contributions to round-ball in the Buckeye state and two teams that won NCAA championships.

Eight former players, five coaches, an official and a pioneer for women's college athletics will have their names added to the distinguished group of honorees.

Former players Dean Chance, Helen Darling, Henry Finkel, Dennis Hopson, D'Artis Jones, Campy Russell, Georgia Schweitzer Beasley and Nick Weatherspoon will join college administrator Helen Ludwig, and coaches Brian Agler, Vince Chickerella, Walter Harrop, Ed Jucker and Jerry Scheve as individuals to be honored.

The two teams entering the prestigious Hall of Fame are Wright State University's 1983 NCAA Men's Division II national champions and the Wilmington College women's team that won the 2004 NCAA Division III national title.

Joe Pangrazio, the 2014 officiating honoree, was selected by his fellow officials.

All other selections are made by a panel of Ohio College All-Americans, NBA Hall of Fame players, Ohio high school and college coaches, and the OBHOF board of directors.

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Chance, who is best known for his major league baseball career, was honored for his basketball success at Northwestern High School in Wayne County. Chance led Northwestern to the state Class A championship in 1958 and was Ohio AP and UP Player of the year in 1959.

Darling led Brookhaven High School to the state championship in 1995 and was Big Ten Conference Player of the Year at Penn State in 2001 before scoring more than 1,000 points in a 10-year professional career.

Finkel, a 7-foot center, led the University of Dayton Flyers to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in two of his three varsity seasons (1963-66). Then he played in the National Basketball Association for 10 years, mostly with the Boston Celtics, winning a championship in 1974.

Hopson, a product of E. L. Bowsher High School in Toledo, was Big Ten Conference Player of the Year at Ohio State in 1987. He finished his career as OSU's all-time scoring leader. He played three years for the New Jersey Nets of the NBA and was on the Chicago Bulls' 1991 championship team.

Jones, a native of Hamilton, was a three-year letterman at Ohio Northern University where he helped the Polar Bears win the 1993 NCAA Division III national championship. He was the national Division III Player of the Year in 1995.

Russell, who played college basketball at the University of Michigan, was a 6-foot-8 forward who played 10 years in the NBA, including seven with the Cleveland Cavaliers. A fan favorite, he was the Cavs' first-round choice (eighth overall) in the 1974 draft. He averaged 15 points-plus for five seasons.

Schweitzer, born in Gahanna, played basketball at Bishop Hartley High School and was the team's most valuable player four..She was All-Ohio first team in 1997 when the team reached the state semi-finals. At Duke University, she was a two-time Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year.

Weatherspoon, who died in 2008, was a 1969 graduate of Canton McKinley High School. He led the Bulldogs to the state semifinals as a senior and was named first team All-Ohio. Weatherspoon played college basketball at the University of Illinois where he was a two-time most valuable player. He earned All-America and All-Big Ten honors in 1973. He had a seven-year NBA career.

Ludwig is a native of Ada who, after her graduation from Ohio Northern University in 1944, paved the way for basketball and other women's sports at ONU before, during and after the implementation of Title IX. She coached five sports, including basketball, and is considered the founder of ONU women's athletics

Before coaching women's basketball teams, Agler was the starting point guard for Wittenberg University's 1977 national championship men's basketball team and Player of The Year in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Agler coached Columbus to ABL championships in 1997 and 1998. Then he coached Seattle to the 2010 WNBA title.

Chickerella coached Linden McKinley High School from 1956 to 1968, winning a state championship in 1967. Moving to Capital University in 1968, he won Ohio Athletic Conference crowns in 1970, '71 and '73. After 10 years at Cap, he won another prep title with St. Francis De Sales in 1987.

Harrop began coaching when he was a sophomore at Shawnee High School in Perry County. He was an outstanding athlete at Muskingum College, graduating in 1929. He coached basketball for 35 years at Shawnee High School, which became part of the consolidated Miller High School. His teams are said to have won 516games and lost 242.

Jucker is best known for coaching the University of Cincinnati to back-to-back NCAA championships in 1961 and 1962, defeating Ohio State in both championship games. The Bearcats led Loyola of Chicago by 15 points with 14 minutes remaining in the 1963 title game only to lose in overtime, 60-58.

Scheve, a Cincinnati native, became coach of the Wilmington College women's team in 1990 and his teams have been very successful. Eleven of Scheve's 21 teams have won at least 20 games and the 2003-04 squad won the NCAA Division III national championship.